The Secret Printing Press Museum

The Secret Printing Press Museum was opened in 1924. It is a unique monument to the political history of Russia during the First Russian revolution, between 1905 and 1907, showing the history of the Russian Social Democratic Party’s illegal activities in the early 20th century.

It is one of the most unusual museums and is, at present, a historic building. It is located in the older part of Moscow, in a three-floored building – typical of Moscow guest houses toward the end of the 19th century. Here, during the First Russian revolution, under the noses of a police station, was the Secret Printing Press under cover of a grocery shop called "Kalandadze Trade of the Caucasian Fruits". Actually the Secret Printing Press was used in the catacombs where the original printing press "Americanka” was placed. The entrance to the Secret Printing Press was in the cellar, which was decorated as a warehouse with boxes of cheese and fruits.

The cellar was accessible by going through a trading floor with ancient shop-windows. There was a counter and a desk with rooms where the shop owners lived and hid the illegal printers. The rooms and the kitchen show the living conditions and a life-style typical of the middle class society, in Moscow, at the beginning of the 20th century. You will see a Russian oven and kitchen utensils: pots, kettles, oven fork, what-nots, a locker, an ancient sewing machine, some embroidered serviettes and cloths, a samovar, family photos and other typical paraphernalia.

The Secret Printing Press was not discovered by the Imperial Police because of the professionalism of the conspirators. The museum gives an opportunity to feel the spirit of that time, still present in living conditions of today's underground printers.